Forum:THE BATTLE OF WILLOWDALE
PATHFINDERS, THIS IS IT! (Willowdale at war theme song) With your 17 days of prep-time, plan out what strategies and work your characters (mains and alts) will be doing before the "Battle of Willowdale" - Will they be building defenses? Will they be training followers for war? Will they be recruiting the Firewalkers? Will they write out a last will?? If you cannot attend the game, please type out what your character(s) will be doing - Jura received word of impending hobgoblin attack on the tenth of Leafall, '''giving Pathfinders 17 days of advance warning, and the general warning was given out on the ''27th of Leafall'' - giving three days for any last quests and preparation for the invasion. Remember! Each PC gets a 10k item as a reward from the dwarves for finding the ocean (even if you weren't part of the group that found it) Remember! You can use the Willowdale druid circle in the Golden Fields to quickly travel to Ravenswood or Deepen Dale. '''!!! !!! !!! Heads up, this is 20 pages, I strongly suggest it gets trimmed down so myself and others can clearly grasp what's going on without reading for two hours ' '!!! !!! !!! Tactical Summary Key points of current plans from the Tactical Meeting (please keep up to date) Siege Engine Raid #Alejandra, Jura, Ru, and any other pathfinders or towns folk who volunteer use Sosostriss’s portal to teleport to the south east corner of the Cedar Forest #Sneak up on the Hobgoblin column and identify the siege train. #Deploy the Clay Golem via a Siege Hawk into the column to draw attention away from the siege train. #Attack the siege train, with Jura using Warp Wood to disable vital portions of the largest siege engines (they will be dissembled for transport) and another attacker using the commissioned 4th level wand of warp wood to do the same to smaller engines. The other pathfinders will provide cover for the casters and attack the guards and siege operators #Target Priority: Trebuchets, then Catapults, then Siege Towers, then Ballistas Fortifications #Plant Growth casting by Jura to create fields of undergrowth, slowing surviving siege engines. #Digging trenches right up against the wall. #Other trapping efforts by Ru, possibly with Kobold assistance #Use magic to dig a 30ft by 20ft hole 10ft deep in front of the gate. This will require a single casting of Move Earth, or 48 castings of Expeditious Excavation. Check with Sosostriss and Valconey about access to Move Earth, otherwise conscript the help of the druids from the Ravenswood that are coming to Willowdale to cast Expeditious Excavation. Conceal the hole using either Permanent Image, mundane means, or keep the construction a secret and cover it with a Major Image on the day of the battle (Move Earth cast the night before could accomplish this). #Prepare pits, snares, hidden spikes, and other traps in the Golden Fields. Pits can be made as part of the above casting of move earth, or with druids using Expeditious Excavation. If Kobolds grant their aid they can help design traps. Other suggestions should be posted here. The locations of all traps should be carefully recorded so they may be disarmed after the battle. #*Soaking patches of the field with oil and igniting it with flaming arrows when it is crosses by hobgoblins or siege engines #*Rigging thunderstones to trigger when stepped on and burying them in the fields. #The night before the battle cast Plant Growth multiple times on the area around the wall. Most of the vegetation has been stripped, but there is enough that with Plant Growth the hobgoblins speed should slow to 10ft. The spell will also provide a +4 bonus to the save DC of any Entangle spell cast in the area. Battlefield Tactics #Pre-battle information sources include Symbol of Revelation to identify shapechanging spies, interrogation of identified spies, and up to two castings of Commune. #Casters and other special units should be targeted by Light Ballista, ideally supported by True Strike. #Jura and anyone capable of wielding the Wand of Warp Wood will continue to target surviving Siege engines or towers. #Dr. Haiduc's Siege Hawks will be used to pelt the attacking army with large stones. Commune Questions: Battle Edition #Will the Hobgoblins have allied druids with them? #Will agents of the Necromancer be present at the battle? Recruited Allies The Pathfinders have met many friends along their journeys, and perhaps some would be willing to aid them. * Every wall guard, militiaman and able-bodied warrior in the town of Willowdale and the surrounding lands has been called upon. The forces of Willowdale measure 1000 men. There are 50 war-trained horses, and about 300 young, strong horses and ponies. * General Wilson and his personal retinue of nine soldiers (his bodyguard and aides) have teleported to Willowdale, and the general will be leading the defense. The overland army is still 14 days away from Willowdale, with perhaps the earliest cavalry 10 days away. * Some druids from the Ravenswood are coming. Jura is expecting noncombatants, and hoping for a few healers who can stick around behind the lines of fire. * While Gullykin doesn't seem like the most obvious place to find heroes, Yeslick says the small-folk are unmatched with their hunting slings. (Recommended Diplomats: Kat, Yeslick) * Wutog mentions that prayer, specifically prayer at the shrines may be a good idea. (Coyote easy, Nethys easy to get to but unexplored, complicating things, Twin Gods hard to get to, Baal right out?) * Ned wonders if any of the rapscallions in Marten's Dam might be convinced to defend their neighbour. * Martha will turn the Boar & Thistle into a triage-camp and military headquarters for the battle. * Knights of the Post should be contacted. They may be able to take part in strike missions or provide information, scouting, or another handy item they've found in the swamp. (Jura would go for this. Flying is useful in the Fens.) * Firewalkers may be able to provide information, or to prepare the terrain. (Recommended Diplomats: Rain, Jura, Dr. Haiduc, Ru, Kat, with team including at least one speaker of Goblin, one friend of Firewalkers) * Kobolds may be threatened or bribed into helping prepare traps around the battlefield. (Recommended: Ru) * Dr. Haiduc will contact the Sisters of Sand and ask for magical assistance. * The Nymph of the Lake may help. * Jacob Plainsview has not offered help. * Gorgoroth doesn't know HOW, but he will do his best into asking The Storm King for help. Jura's To-Do list: * Visited with the Archdruid of the Ravenswood circle to ask for advice and aid. The Archdruid also expressed concerns that The Necromancer may strike at Ravenswood around this time. *Assist in the preparation of the town and the townsfolk for battle. *Order a Wilding Clasp so she can use her armour in Wild Shape. *Brew some potions. Request potions below! *Request some items from others, likely primarily wands. *Prep Rahzer'ok for the battle as a combat medic, prepare and re-introduce Alyenna as her second. *Arrange to have word sent to her family in event of her death. *Approach key persons in town with offers of Reincarnation. Assuming she survives the battle, she's willing to reincarnate anyone who could provide the 1,000 gold worth of required oils, and to foot the bill for several others, such as Martha, Valconey and Alyenna, assuming sufficient funds survive the preparation for battle. *Wild Shape Capabilities: Tiny to Huge-size animal, Small or Medium Magical Beast, or Small or Medium elemental for 8 hours at a time, 4 forms per day. Key forms include Air elemental scouter / bomber and full-size Triceratops super-tank (now with new improved armour!). Comments for Jura *Place holder Ruthea's To-Do List *Write a letter to her elder sister. *She has visited Jacob Plainsview to petition for aid. He did not offer any help (none was expected). *Order her item, likely +3 Bracers of Armor. She may also purchase a Circlet of Persuasion. *Confer with people responsible for tactics about the possibility of crafting traps near the Wall. She will attempt to persuade the Kobolds into helping her with this. *Make herself useful in general, helping others where needed, especially Sosostriss and Valconey. *Boost town morale, possibly with Calmex's help, with bardic performances. *Attempt to contact Noale and Rain to petition them for help, possibly through scrying. Comments for Ruthea *This is probably going to be really important, since Bardic Performance is not limited by distance and affects every ally who can see/hear you. Rinzler's To-Do List *Write a letter to his mother, basically saying "So the town I'm staying in is about to be invaded by an army because no one did anything about it before it was ready to invade, so I'm helping them to prepare, but don't worry because I'm not planning on getting myself killed to defend the place and it's really not much more dangerous then the other things I've been doing lately anyways." She will likely not be comforted in any way. *Write a letter to Sir Roswell, boiling down to "The army finally showed up. It's a smidge late, but that's the government for you. I'll send you a letter later telling you how everything goes." *Purchase his item, a +3 chain shirt. * Craft, craft, craft! Since he's not a soldier or tactician in any way, he would be looking to others to tell him what would be most useful. He has Brew Potion, and alchemy. * If he takes 10 and the Int pot, bringing him to a DC50, he can make Alchemist's Fires at a rate of 10 per week (normal craft checks take a week, his high check means that he takes 1/5th of the time, and halving it again due to Swift Alchemy makes it take 1/10th of the time). Smokesticks are the same, thunderstones can be produced at 1/8th of the normal time. *On the night before the attack, he will put all of his possessions in his Bag of Holding. All of them. In case of *absenteeism* on the day of the battle, his plan is to help as much as he can without putting himself in too much danger, and if the battle begins to look hopeless, he plans to escape (helping others if such is the case) either by using Valconey's Portal or by retreating further into civilization (using Expedious Retreat and Invisibility), whichever seems safer. Comments for Rinzler * As you are the owner of your own alchemy lab I would suggest you check your store room (ie. Check with Trahan) to see how much Alchemist’s Fire and Acid you have in stock. I think you can consider it all sold for use in the battle, along with whatever other grenade weapons you might have. Dr. Haiduc will cover the cost, and would also like to purchase any potions of true strike you have in stock for use in a ballista based strategy, as well as any such potions you could make in the prep time before the battle. * Since potions with market value under 250gp can be made in 2 hours, one per day, we can make one such potion a day and still proceed with mundane and alchemical crafting at full rate. So if we can get Rinzler to make a whole bunch of True Strike potions (maybe the full 17), he still gets 17 days worth of crafting grenade weapons. (This plan Trahan approved) Kat's To-Do List *Make sure that Heart Stomper is put in a special stable for non fighting horses. *Find a new spot for Dragonstorm Treeborn to plant himself inside the wall. *Move The Grand Cardinal, Buttercup, Turtlerose, and Red into the safety if the Barrow Motel. *Strongly consider staying at the Barrow Motel to make sure no one gets hurt. *As per Rinzler's suggestion, bring all the non combatant people, pets, and animals to Highcombe through the portal in Valconey's Tower. Say hi to Sir Roswell. *Follow Ned around town to make sure he's not doing anything suspicious Comments for Kat * Rinzler is likely to tell Kat that the Barrow Motel probably isn't very safe, considering that it's on the road leading from very near the hobgoblin camp to the gate. He would comment to Kat, while she is inevitably running around catching all of the stray cats and chickens so that they don't get hurt, that she should maybe go and find everyone who is unable to defend themselves and ask them if they would like to take Valconey's portal to Highcombe so that they can be safe while the battle is going on Dr. Haiduc's To-Do List * Begin Unseen Crafter Spam. Dr. Haiduc will be using every spell slot of second level or higher, and his second level Pearl of Power, to cast Unseen Crafter. This will amount to 15 castings per day. Assuming taking 10 and using Guidance he can make DC 25 craft checks. Casting every day from the tenth to when we departed to the hobgoblin camp would yield....9792 gold worth of finished goods. By the seventh day there would be 84 invisible workers wandering arround Willowdale (As if people didn't think Dr. Haiduc was weird enough). Also, if anyone knows how to get access to the fabricate spell that could accomplish more then this without the Spectral Workforce. * The Doctor can craft weapons, armor, bows, carpentry, masonry, leather, alchemy (although Rinzler's a better source for that), and on the far side of usefulness in a military situation, painting, sculpture, clothing, clockwork, tattoos, and calligraphy. Pathfinders or the militia can put in requests for whatever equipment they want, assuming that they can provide the raw materials and don’t mind a horde of invisible workers, which he assures are quasi-intelligent, para-elemental spirits and not, he repeats, NOT the trapped souls of contractors who took too long with Haiduc home renovations. That is a filthy rumor with almost no basis in truth. * Please list equipment requests below. If any casters have Pearls of Power they can lend him, let him know so that the numbers can be adjusted accordingly. Current plans: sink all unseen crafter time in light Ballista. *Craft Siege Hawks: a tiny animated object made to fly that can carry 20lbs as a light load. A stone of that weight dropped from 150ft would do 4d6 damage (DC 15 Reflex half). They cost 125 gold in materials (cheap compared to most siege weapons) and Dr. Haiduc can make 4 per day. They can be set up along the wall to be directed by people with little combat ability. The wooden birds would have a hardness of 5, an AC of 18, and would fly in at least the second range increment for heavy crossbows, making them difficult to bring down. *Ride to the Sister's of the Sand and bargain for their aid in the defense of Willowdale. *Empty store room of all bloodblock, healer’s kits, and casting plaster to be provided to the medics at my expense (deduct from next profit check). Comments for Dr. Haiduc * Jura would like to make sure we also get the entire millitia outfited, and might also request a Heavy Wooden Shield, depending on what people decide her role in combat ought to be. YES PLEASE on the Seige Hawks. * Chorus, Erevis' ghost cohort knows a spell or two that might be of use to Dr. Haiduc; Crafter's Fortune , and will prepare a casting per day for him that will give the good doctor a +5 luck bonus to each daily craft check, so that should up the finished goods total. I'm still getting his spell list together so if you have any suggestions for useful spells throw them to me. * Crafter’s Fortune only affects your next craft check, not every check that day. Still, with one casting per day from the 10th to the day of the attack that would yield an extra 367.3 gold in finished goods. Let me know if Chorus can cast Crafter’s Fortune more than once per day. * Channel the Gift is from an accessory book (Pathfinder Chronicles). Trahan has disallowed it. *Unseen Servant can only make DC10 checks, so I don't think they can make anything other than simple or household items. **Unseen Crafter is a Level 2 spell specialy ordered by Dr. Haiduc. It last a day per level and can make craft checks at the caster's skill bonus. Alejandra's To-Do List *Request that General Wilson and Colonel Boyd assist in training the old members of the Sun and Moon Brigade in the proper handling of firearms and explosives with which they can defend the wall. *The rifle given to her by Colonel Boyd has gone missing, though Sheriff Colquhoun and Enrique have seen her son carrying it around. Thusly informed, she implores either of them to train her son in its proper usage, should the worst happen. *Ballantino has weapon/magic item crafting expertise, and can assist with projects on that end. *Assist with the safe evacuation of non-combantants, just in case the fight should be taken inside the town itself. *Start other preparations for guerrilla offensive actions (See Tactical Meeting below). Comments for Alejandra *Jura wants to know where your kids will be during the attack. *What can Ballantino craft? Gorgoroth's To-Do List *Aquire Mithril Full Plate armor. *Go to the cherry tree in the Winterpeak Mountains to find the ally the Storm King spoke of. *Pray to the Storm King for help; perhaps a new spell, his presence or strength boost? *Get Gorillaroth some leather armor Tactical Meeting Please present your general strategies, tactical assessments and concerns here. Comments on specific major operations should go under the appropriate heading. Dr. Haiduc:''' The first thing we need to worry about is the hobgoblin infiltrators that we learned about during the scouting mission. They are apparently planning to act against Willowdale's "elf wizards", so all arcane casters should be on guard. Jura suspects that these may be doppelgangers, or possibly changelings. The current plan is to gather the town to announce the coming invasion and use a Symbol of Revelation to reveal any shape-changers or users of illusion magic in the crowd. We can then apprehend and interrogate the infiltrators. '''Jura: '''We appear to have roughly even numbers with the hobgoblins. They will have superior training for the most part, and will be better equipped (though this will level a bit if we can take out their Siege Engines). They also probably have a military intelligence advantage thanks to their spies, though we can mitigate this by neutralizing the spies with Dr. Haiduc's plan above. We probably have an advantage in healing and leadership. Jura optimistically predicts a general caster. However, she is a little nervous of the prospect of the Hobgoblins receiving aid from the Necromancer. For details, see Caster Neutralization. Commune on the 20th gives us a count of nine shapeshifters in town, Valconey excluded. Presumably these are our infiltrators, though no guarantees as I didn't suspect a hobgoblin connection when I asked the questions. ''Remember that we get at least one Commune ''for the 30th (which can be used on the 27th), and possibly a second when Samhain begins (a new week), so let's think of some good questions! '''Rinzler:' '''Are we going to use Valconey's portal to evacuate non-combatants the night before the battle? We could send them to New Luxberg, or Highcombe (I spent a month there, I know it well). '''Alejandra: '''The efforts to stop any inside interference in our defence can also be supported by an evacuation of the town, by keeping the non-combatants far away from the action, we can minimize the spies' ability to compromise the defences and also make sure that the general citizenry are safe. In the unfortunate event that the wall is pierced and the fight goes into the town itself, we can use our knowledge of the town layout to split up the invading legion, taking down their numerical advantage with ambushes and traps. The plan to erect a siege tower and heavy mobile arms, as well as a battering ram, would be able to counter our reliance on the Great Wall. However, if we were to strike at the legion auxiliary before their arrival and eliminate their siege weaponry, their advantage would disappear and we could use the wall effectively. The location of the siege train can be predicted based on the location of the road. They would not cart such heavy machinery through the desert, as that would delay their advance by a week and leave their men thirsty and demoralized. We should confirm the presence of the siege train on the road with scrying to make absolutely sure. Siege warfare against a fortified enemy that knows you are coming is one of the most, if not the most difficult military tactic to engage in, and this is even if you have a significant numerical advantage against said enemy. They may have the manpower, but we have the intelligence, the breadth of skills, and the resources to handle this threat. We will make them regret their foolish strategy. '''Ru:' Rinzler, the farmers outside of town have been warned. I believe Erevis and Enrique saw to that. I'd like to nominate myself for a strike force, if we do end up putting one together. I don't know how much of a help I'd be against the Praetor, but I can help take out bards and casters and the like. Plus, I've seen their war machines, so I might be able to disable them with cover and time, if that would be faster than smashing them to bits. In a pinch I can bring myself and three others out of danger with the Cape of the Mountebank. If we're not feeling that, if we can find a safe spot where everyone can see and hear us, Calmex and I can support everyone. Also, we should be looking to take out any battle standards -- those guys are really attached to them. Siege Engine Strike Jura '''suggests making these a large priority, as structural damage to the wall could impede the magical protection the ward provides against The Necromancer. She suggests getting those familiar with the workings (Jord, Enrique, Calmex) to identify weak points within an engine that can be targeted by a strike team. This would probably be more efficient than bringing a whole engine down, though we would want to consider whether replacement parts are available. If Jura can get within 45 feet she can use Warp Wood to ruin suitable components, preferably within our three-day prep window as this would chew up a lot of spell slots. '''Alejandra: '''Using the portal constructed by Sosostriss, we can move a strike force in behind the legion to attack the siege train that will be part of the advance, and will consist of the auxiliary troops moving and operating the equipment. We can specify that it send the team to within one mile from the southeastern corner of the Great Cedar Forest to ensure that they are not visible from the main road. From there, they can get close to the siege train as it passes, since it will have to take one of the main roads, and unleash whatever havoc they can on the machines and the men. Fire attacks should be able to cause the most damage to the equipment, and if we can kill the engineers who operate the machines, then so much the better. They would be burdened with machines they would be largely incapable of using effectively if we can cripple the auxiliary in charge of the siege train, but at the same time, they would have a harder time replacing equipment than re-training personnel, so there is a strong case for prioritizing the destruction of either element of the siege train, and I leave it to the discretion and particular skills of the individuals in the strike force to determine where they can do the most damage. '''Ru '''has volunteered to be part of this strike force. '''Dr. Haiduc: Those are very hard to destroy through damage, as they have hardness and lots of HP, and as I believe the hobgoblins have clerics with them it would only take a single Make Whole to negate all our work. The most efficient way of destroying siege engines is through Jura’s Warp Wood. A single casting from her (8th level) can destroy one Huge siege engine or two large engines if they’re within 20 ft of each other. It will take two castings for a Gargantuan engine or four for a Colossal one. Items warped are completely useless and it can’t be reversed except by another wood warp spell. (The hobgoblins have no druids). As part of the strike I would recommend Jura in Air elemental form. Layer on as much enhancement magic as possible, at least mage armor, blur and protection from arrows (or stone skin if possible). If you can get a potion of invisibility it would be perfect for getting her within range. Once within range the enhancements should protect her while she casts, and afterwards nothing can catch an air elemental for quick getaways. Other possibilities include having Ru sneak in and using disable device to rig the engines to fail when fired, or using Woodripper acid, an alchemical compound that does 3d10 damage to wooden objects and ignores their hardness with a price of 20g per flask (I advise consulting Rinzler regarding this). The Trebuchets are my biggest concern. A heavy Trebuchets has a range of about 4000ft. If we don’t take them out they can bash the wall to pieces from a distance not even our best casters could reach. Jura: I get twelve 2-4th level spells, which theoretically will cover twelve Huge objects – we're expecting 40 engines? Trahan says that Enrique and others would have been able to identify a variety of Ballista, Catapults, and Trebuchet of sizes Small to Gargantuan, primarily Large and Huge, with roughly ''four siege towers, which would be Gargantuan to reach the top of the wall. More information would rely on Knowledge rolls made in-game. Timing will be important. I'm a tank, but I can't work indefinitely, especially if we need to rely on lower-level wand castings. Having Ru and/or Woodripper Acid sounds like a really good backup and speed-up mechanism if we can smuggle in a slightly larger group. '''Dr. Haiduc': Note you can cast multiple times to affect a larger object, but it has no effect until you meet the minimum number of castings required. If a caster or wand was at least level 4 you could take out a large engine with each casting or a huge with two castings. Jura would be the best person to pull this off, but a team of lower level druids or people with wands could also manage. Using Woodripper acid on key components could disable the engine, as would disable device, but anything less than warp wood or complete destruction can be reversed by a combination of mending and make whole. Using disable device to rig an engine to fail when used would be invaluable, as it would negate the engine when it matters (the battle) without letting the hobgoblins know anything is wrong. If they’re leaning on a block of catapults to knock down the wall or cover their advance having that fail during battle will leave them open and vulnerable. We should set priority to indirect fire engines (Catapults and Trebuchets) then siege towers, then direct fire engines (Ballistas). Catapults and Trebuchets have enough range they can sit outside field of battle and pound the wall to pieces, or lay down so much covering fire that we can’t counter the approaching army. After that siege towers can protect hoards of soldiers on approach and effectively negate the advantage of the wall. Balistas will likely be used to cover the advance of the army rather than for structural damage. They would be the most easily countered on the battle field, so should probably be targets of opportunity on this raid, rather than the main goal. Jura: If we're OK with this eating up 6 days of Valconey's crafting, we can get a caster level 4 Wand of Warp Wood ''at cost (3,000 gold), which I would be willing to pay personally. This could be used to zap engine components or smaller engines while Jura's caster level 8 spells take out bigger engines. This works out to 60 gold per large engine completely destroyed, or 15gp per "small object" worth of warping, which I think is well worth it if we're planning a direct strike on Seige Engines. '''Dr. Haiduc': I’m in favor of the wand. During the strike you’ll need to lay down as many spells as possible before the legion can mobilize against you. If you’re not taking another Druid then Ru could Use magical device it. They will likely have light catapults and trebuchets that the wand user can focus on while Jura takes out the larger engines. Also, most of the engines would be transported disassembled. Only light ballistas, light catapults, siege towers, and rams are mobile when assembled. Everything else will need to be assembled on site. If they’re transported close enough together you might be able to warp the essential components of multiple engines at once, like the throwing arms of trebuchets . On further examination I wouldn’t put too much of a priority on siege towers or rams. They move with a speed of 15ft per full round action, meaning they will approach the wall slowly enough for Jura to cast warp wood on them before they arrive. It will still take two castings to bring down a tower, so if all of them arrive at the same time it could be problematic. This would greatly be helped if Fortifications or spells can somehow turn the area immediately outside the wall into difficult terrain to delay them (we would only need the area within 30-40 feet of the wall affected). The wand would also help, but could only reach 30 feet and would require four castings per tower. The same principle applies to the ram, but if the Pit Plan goes through that may not be a problem. Jura: Let's hope someone with familiarity with seige weaponry can point out key parts of the towers to warp. Presumably, I could catch all four wheels within one casting and halt the thing entirely. Caster Neutralization Jura '''suspects that the Hobgoblins may have a shaman or similar who is planning on using the date of Samhain to boost some sort of spirit-summoning effect. She recommends that Sosostriss, Erevis, and Erevis' ghost cohort Chorus identify likely effects and methods of counterspelling or otherwise neutralizing these. If we can take out key casters beforehand, so much the better. '''Dr. Haiduc: We should also ask Valconey to research what rituals might be possible and how to counter them. I wonder if we should expect The First to be aiding the Hobgoblins, or if he would be tied up with whatever the Necromancer is planning for Ravenswood. If we could be facing another bout of epic magic like The Dark Omen our only hope would be to disrupt whatever ritual is powering it. If it’s more mundane magic our best bet is to have a few casters with Dispel Magic prepared. I can prepare it a few times and if I’m backed up by Nanny Ogg and the Tea Circle I should be able to counter their standard spells. We may also be able to work in an attack on their casters to the Siege Engine strike, but they’d be secondary targets at best. On the battle field I have another plan. Our ballista battery will have a maximum range of 1200ft for light ballistas and 1800ft for heavy ballistas. All magic needs line of effect, so to cast at us they will need to be exposed. Furthermore, long range magic has a range of 400ft +40 ft per level. Unless they’re level 20 or using meta magic they’ll be in light ballista range before they’ll be in spell range. If we can get some potions of True Strike (Rinzler?) for the operators we can negate the penalties from even maximum range. If we can find operators skilled at Far Shot we come out even further ahead. If we spot a caster or other priority target on the battlefield we can organize a massive ballista strike and try to take them out. This brings me to a rather sensitive point. There are substances that both Rinzler and I have access to that will enhance our chance or bringing down a target with these weapons. Most casters are not known for their ability to resist these substances, making them a very appealing option. I will not ask anyone to endorse this purposefully vague tactic, but I will say that come the battle there will be some clearly marked ballista bolts for use against spellcasters that should be handled VERY carefully. Jura: Alyenna has Far Shot, if we can get Ballista for her. Fortification Alejandra: I personally am against trapping the golden fields, as it endangers those that have nothing to do with our battle and may come back to haunt us. However, immediately outside the wall may be the right location for such a strategy, and I believe Dr. Haiduc and his unseen servants could accomplish much in the way of designing traps for enemy forces trying to attack the wall en masse. Any such traps should be carefully documented and the commanding forces must be aware of them to ensure no unnecessary loss of life or battle potential due to falling victim to our own traps, and they should be set up in a way that allows them to be rendered harmless after the fighting ends. That having been said, I leave their design and objective to the more creatively-minded among you. In the event that we are unable to disable their battering ram, the simplest way of mitigating its effectiveness is digging a trench around the front gate. If one of our many talented magic users thinks it is feasible, we could enhance the effect by swathing the pit in an illusion to catch the hobgoblins unaware, or else cover its appearance by more conventional means: Netting and a layer of dirt. Dr. Haiduc: Move Earth would be the ideal spell for digging a moat in front of the gate or arranging other aspects of the landscape. Unfortunately it’s a 6th level wizard and druid spell, so unless Sosostriss, Valconey, or one of the druids from the western circle can cast it it’s off the table. The lesser option is using Expeditious Excavation, a first level druid spell the digs a 5’ by 5’ hole 5 feet deep. This would be a good use of any apprentice or low level druids in the days coming up to the attack. Jura can pitch in if she’s not using her 1st level spells for anything else. On the day of the battle I can cover the moat with an illusion (Major Image) but I’ll need to concentrate to maintain it and stay within range (720) with a line of effect to the illusion. If I do that I won’t be able to participate in the battle until the hobgoblins fall into the pit and I can release the illusion. A Permanent Image spell would be able to take care of this without any attention, if we can find someone to cast it. It goes without saying that if we intend to hide the pit we’ll need to keep its construction secret from any scouts and infiltrators. Jura: We're highly unlikely to get druid allies casting Move Earth. Hopefully Valconey or Soso would have it. Dr. Haiduc: A major priority should be slowing the hobgoblin’s approach. They’ll probably stick to the road as long as possible to maximize the speed of their siege equipment. On good ground siege towers only move 15ft per round. They could gain some speed by transporting them in pieces and assembling them on site but they still won’t want to drag that through the wilderness. Assuming they’ll set up a base about a mile away from the gate, (maybe closer, they know we don’t have heavy Trebuchets or other long range siege on the wall) they’ll fan out and attack, focusing the ram on the gate and moving the towers parallel to it (it’s in their best interest to hit us simultaneously to diminish our opportunity to respond.) Since the towers will be moving through the fields I suggest we have Jura cast Plant Growth to create a dense area of overgrowth immediately outside the wall. The condition will last for one day, so if cast the day before the attack we can create several 150 ft semi-circles of dense vegetation for the hobgoblins to slog through. The thick brush will slow their speed to 5 feet (10 feet for ant giants or ogres they have). The condition can’t be dispelled except by Diminish Plants (Hobgoblins have no druids) and it would slow the towers to a crawl. I don’t know how many 3rd level spells Jura has each day, but it might be a good idea for anyone who can cast Channel the Giftto use it to give her more castings of plant growth. A couple of my plans are built around the assumption that the hobgoblins have no druids. I think that’s a fairly solid one, but if anyone has evidence to the contrary now would be a good time to let me know. Jura: Plant Growth is a good idea, especially if I combine it with a relatively cheap wand of Entangle for mucking up key targets as they move in. Extra castings can also be obtained fairly easily via scrolls. Extending the duration of up to three castings of Plant Growth with Foluchan's Branch is an option. We have not observed any hobgoblin druids. There are orchish druids in the Sawtooth Vale, but they are to our knowledge not associated with the Hobgoblins orcish allies. There's also the small but notable possibility that the Shadow Druids (a civilization-hating group) are involved. We should probably ask that question during our Commune and pre-plan for the worst case. If we do hear word that they have druids, they are unlikely to have these counterspells prepared on the first day they run into Warp Wood and Plant Growth. That means these tactics would still be viable, but would need to be applied immediately before the attack, which would be more difficult. Use of Clay Golem Bomb Alejandra: '''To prevent interference from the main legion while we assault the siege train, I would recommend using the bottled golem to keep the attacking legion from getting close. Should we be able to lob it into the center of their formation, it would cause havoc and break a significant portion of their force. Any other skills capable of blinding, disorienting, or otherwise stopping the advance of large numbers of enemies are also recommended. Retreating forces should go back into the woods, as the enemy would be forced to break formation to account for the trees and that would make pursuit extremely dangerous and foolhardy. The strike force would then have to be able to return to town, so I would recommend that people capable of returning in short order be among the strike force. I nominate myself to participate in the strike force, as the Bronze Griffon granted to me by our Dwarven benefactors should enable me to return home ahead of the legion, which would be slowed by the attack. Anyone else capable of returning home through magical means should also step forward if they agree that this plan is sound. '''Dr. Haiduc: I would also recommend using an animated object (either flying or burrowing) to deploy the golem. That way you could make sure you are FAR away from it when it comes to life and it can draw hobgoblin attention in a direction other than your attack vector. Alejandra: Doctor, if you would be willing to dedicate one of your Siege Hawks to carrying our Golem into the field so that we might make our strike against the massed legion, it would be an ideal method of delivering the weapon. If it cannot carry the bottle, then I would suggest tying the bottle to the hawk itself and then crashing both into the ground to ensure that the bottle shatters on impact in the exact spot necessary to do maximum damage. If the hawk can carry the bottle, then a drop from about fifty feet (to ensure accuracy) should be sufficient. Jura: '''Can we (1) have a backup plan for this in case the golem doesn't disappear within a few minutes and (2) drop the thing as far from Willowdale as possible? I know the hobgoblins are a really big deal, but a clay golem running around in the Golden Fields is a problem of a similar magnitude, especially if it ends up smashing the wall while the siege is in progress. '''Dr. Haiduc: I should have 24 siege hawks prepared by the time of the battle, and you are welcome to one to deploy the golem. For the deployment I would recommend placing the flask between two rocks and tying them together. Upon impact the rocks will collide and shatter the flask. You can arrange a high altitude drop. With luck the hobgoblins will assume it is a bombardment attack, focusing on the hawk and ignoring the growing golem until it is too late (It takes 1d4 rounds to fully form). I suggest dropping it in the center of the marching columns when you launch your strike on the siege engines. The army will be less prepared and have few weapons that can damage it. Also its cursed wounds ability will impair any soldiers that survive, weakening them for the battle. If it is not brought down by the legion and does run off I believe I would be able to take it down. I have several summons that hit hard enough to damage it and by flying I would be outside its range of attack. If Jura could join me in air elemental form to also provide summons our combined efforts should be able to drop it. Additionally, a berserk clay golem will not exactly be hard to track, so we should be able to chase it down and take care of it shortly after the battle. Jura: Which summons? Do not count on magical help from Jura as she will likely be stacked to the gills with Warp Wood at this time. We should also consider the possibility that the First, Second, and/or Third will be leading whatever casting the hobgoblins are planning. Do we think that with their help the army will likely be able to take the Golem down after a few rounds of fighting? If so, this sounds like a good plan. Or is there a possiblity they could turn the Golem against us directly? I know the Golem cannot be properly controlled when Bezerk, but would like an Arcanist's opinion as to whether there are other ways to point it at us. (Read: Knowledge(Arcana) check once we hit the table.)